The Immortal Waters
by Harry Scotter
Summary: Tobias Wolfe is a soldier turned pirate after he becomes marked as one by the East Indian Trading Company. Now with a newfound sense of freedom, he gets caught up with Captain Jack Sparrow in his quest to find the mythical Fountain of Youth.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, the characters in this story from said movie, or have anything to do with Disney. If I did, I'd be as rich as Jerry Bruckheimer.

"Come in, come in." the voice called, and a young soldier stepped into the cabin, and placed a cup of tea on the desk of his commanding officer. The commanding officer smiled pulled the cup of tea towards his paperwork. "Thank you, Tobias. How are you finding your first week of duty?"

"Fine. Just… fine." Tobias said, as if he sounded troubled. Tobias was a good-looking man, with short, brown curly hair and brown eyes, with the slightest growth of stubble on his chin. He wore the standard East India Trading Company uniform, a red buttoned jacket and cream colored pants with a black hat and boots. "I prepared the tea just to your liking, Commander Wolfe."

"Oh please, relax Toby. There's no officers here. Call me father." The man said, taking the cup of tea from it's saucer. Tobias's father was a rotund man, with curly black hair and brown eyes, but didn't look similar to his son in any other feature. As the commanding officer of the ship, he wore the formal uniform that addressed him of his rank.

Tobias didn't say anything at first, but before his father brought the cup to his lips, Tobias spoke up. "_Father," _he said the word hesitantly, and suddenly asked, "Where were you the night mother was killed by the intruder?"

"Your mother?" his father asked incredulously, pausing as he held his tea. "Why I already told you, I was off duty with the lads, drinking beer at the local pub. Why do you…"

"What was the music playing that night?" Tobias asked, interrupting.

"I suppose it was some sort of dance music, like with fiddles or something." his father said.

"I asked the innkeeper at the bar." Tobias said, leaning on the table. "The band didn't play, they were chucked out the night before because of a drunken brawl they started. They couldn't find anyone to replace them. There was no music that night, _father_."

"Oh, well… I was rather drunk…" his father started saying defensively.

Tobias pressed on. "That ring you are wearing, the one with the East India Trade Company logo on it? The one they only give out to commanding offers showing great _honor_ and _duty _for their long service?" he said with some sarcasm in his words.

"Yes…" his father said, wondering what his son was getting to.

"The imprint of that ring was found on the back of her neck, around the area of her neck where _you_ strangled her to death. Yes, it was you. You must have been wearing your ring on upside down, no-one else in our port has that ring." Tobias accused finally. "Face it, _father, _you killed her, and I only found out because of your careless, sloppy work."

"I wasn't being careless!" Commander Wolfe spat, realizing he had just confessed.

"So you admit it." Tobias said. "I can't believe you would do such a thing. She was such a kind soul. I put up with you drinking and abusing her over the years, and punishing and hitting me. I even was going to simply walk away after I saw on my first few days the horrible truth behind this very East India Trading Company, transporting slaves on ships and killing innocent and defenseless people, the very company you have defended all these years. Everything that I believed in has been a _lie_. But why, why did you kill her? Why!?" he demanded furiously.

"For the greater good." His father finally said coldly, dropping his humble and friendly demeanor. "That's what you learn here, boy. Sacrifice for the sake of the greater good." he said, finally taking a sip of his tea.

"Good. I'm glad you said that." Tobias said. "Because that tea you just drank? It was poisoned."

Commander Wolfe's face froze. "You what!?" he barked, dropping the cup and saucer he was holding that shattered the moment they hit the floor. The color drained from his face as he suddenly felt the poison react to his body.

"That's right. After all these years of your cruelty and your lies, it's all going to end here. You shouldn't have killed mother, father. She was the only kindness I ever had in this world. That was the last mistake you will ever make."

"She was… a worthless… whore…" his father said weakly as he knelt to the floor.

Tobias suddenly snapped. It wasn't part of his plan, but he didn't care anymore. He grabbed his father by the neck and squeezed. "Now I'm going to kill you the same way you killed your wife. How does it feel that someone you've been close to all your life turns on you? You coward. You won't hurt anyone anymore." He kept choking his father until he wheezed out his last breath, then dropped him face-down on the desk. He looked at him with some regret for a moment, then reached into his father's jacket pocket until he found what he was looking for.

He took the copper key and walked across the room, unlocking the chest that was there. He fished around madly as he searched for the item his father had stolen away, not finding it. Then at last he came across it, the one important thing he treasured, and put the object safely away in his pants pocket.

Suddenly the door burst open, and a soldier stepped in. "Commander, we…" he saw Commander Wolfe slumped over the table, and his son not helping him, standing over an open chest. "What are you doing?" the soldier said loudly. More soldiers came in. Tobias tried to handle the situation like he planned. "My father, I found him like this. I was trying to find his medication…" he tried to impovise.

"What's that in your pocket? Let me see that!" the soldier ordered suspiciously. "Arrest him!" he ordered the other soldiers behind him without warning. Tobias couldn't move quickly enough in time as the soldiers grabbed and searched him against his will, the soldier pulling the item out of his pocket. "Only the commander is supposed to have this. Let's bring him out to the deck!" he said, putting it into his own pocket. The soldiers took him out of the cabin, pulling off his Eastern India Trading Company jacket and hat.

A short while later after an investigation was made, the soldiers delivered a formal sentence to Tobias.

"Tobias Wolfe, you are charged with conspiracy on one account, murder on one account, and piracy on one account. You are hereby stripped of your rank from the East India Trading Company and therefore your service to the British empire. You will be branded as a pirate and be put under arrest until we return to port, where you will be futher sentenced in a court of law." A solider read out from a parchment, he and several other soldiers stood around a young man being restrained by officers.

The young man gritted his teeth as one of the soldiers approached him with a branding iron, which he had just stoked out of hot coals, and pressed it against the skin on his wrist. Tobias fought the pain as the branding iron burned his skin for what seemed like forever, until the soldier pulled it away, revealing a burn left behind in the shape of the letter P.

"Take him to the brig." someone said, and Tobias resisted as the men pulled him away.

Before he was taken below on the ship, he heard a snippet of conversation going on between two soliders.

"Sir, there's a ship headed this way."

"One of ours?"

"No sir. And it isn't flying any colors."

The rest of the conversation faded out as he was taken below deck. The officers brought him towards a jail cell… there was no way he was going in there. Suddenly he resisted and head butted the officer to his left, and before the soldier to his right could react, he brought up his free left hand and punched him. The other solider that he head butted was leaning over in pain, so Tobias took the moment to grab his sword, and in one swift movement knocked out the soldier with the handle of the sword. He turned around to threaten the other one, but when he did, he was already waiting and cocked the trigger of his pistol. Tobias was about to talk is way out of being shot, long enough to get close with his sword, but suddenly the wall next to them exploded in the sound of cannon fire.

When the dust cleared, Tobias could see the officer with the pistol had fallen to the ground unconscious. He looked out of the hole to see the ship that had attacked his captors; they were flying a flag with a jolly rodger on it. They must have been pirates, that's what the ship the soldiers must had been talking about earlier was. He saw more cannons being fired, and decided to take his chances with the sea, abandoning the ship by diving out of the hole the cannon had made. Feeling the cold of the ocean waves, he swam to the surface and headed for the nearby shore.

More cannons could be heard as the two ships fought, but Tobias didn't turn around as he concentrated on swimming. Eventually he heard a huge explosion, and he looked behind him, seeing the ship of the East India Trading Company being ripped apart by the pirate's cannons and sinking beneath the ocean. The pirates on their ship cheered and started pulling survivors on board. He turned back around and kept swimming.

As far as anyone knew, nothing on the ship had happened, but Tobias still had his brand proving he was marked as a pirate. And the item he had tried to take back from his father was now in the pirate's possession or at the bottom of the ocean. Back in the water where the ship used to be, his clothes that he once wore as a soldier in the East India Trading Company sank slowly beneath the ocean waves.


	2. Chapter 1  Stolen Thunder

A/N: Hey thanks to the readers of the prologue for reading and supporting my story! I got four people adding me to their favorites, three story alerts, one author alert and one review. I'm glad you liked it! Keep reading guys and I will try to give you guys a good read! Here's the next chapter!

"C'mon boy! Look alive!" a man called, as he stepped up towards an older Tobias, both of them drawing swords. The young man drew his sword and bowed along with the elder man, both of them crossing their swords between each other. "And, begin!"

The two men began sword-fighting, clashing their swords together as they moved back and forth across the floor. "Watch your footwork boy! That's it!" the elder man called, as the two continued to parry. "Now, let's finish." The elder man thrust his cutlass towards Tobias, and Tobias blocked, then in a quick motion, he thrust his sword upwards and knocked the sword out of the man's hands, putting the blade against his neck.

"Very impressive." The elder man said. "Aye lad, if you do that in the play, they'll surely be convinced yer good n' dead. You've got lucky knocking it out of me hands, though."

"And lucky the past five times I did it as well." Tobias hinted humorously, and bowed to his opponent. "Cheers, Harvey."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, boy. So far we've gone uncaught – except for that one time we stole from the Queen of Spain." Harvey reminded him.

"Who could forget that one. We came close to being caught that time." Tobias recalled.

"Just do your job, and try not to show off this time Mr. fancy-pants, understand?" Harvey said.

"Yes, captain."

Harvey had been a good captain for the past few months since he had known him. He was a heavy man with blue eyes, blonde hair and sideburns all the way down to his chin. The ship he was a captain of, called the Dancing Peacock, was a traveling ship full of performers and minstrels that traveled the sea under the guise of a performance ship. But what Tobias and the crew really did was steal from the audience they performed for – they had a reputation for being the best showboat on the seas, and developed a routine once they had acquired a rich client to dazzle and distract the audience while the other crew members stole riches from their treasuries right from under their very noses. Tobias had been hired himself from stealing from the Dancing Peacock and handing back the goods he had stolen the day after – they were so impressed they welcomed him into the crew that day, despite there being some spite from the crew members. Tobias – or as he went under his alias, Daniel Bailey – had become very good at stealing while he had been hiding away from the authorities on the Dancing Peacock. And hardly anyone got killed, and if someone did, they would be long gone before anyone even noticed. No fuss, no muss.

"Curtain call in one minute!" Harvey called as the crew members scattered about to get ready behind the stage he and Tobias had been performing on, which tonight had been set up in the front yard of a palace owned by a duke. "Places, everyone!"

"I best go get into position, then." Tobias said, already in costume, wearing a puffy shirt, black pants and black boots.

"Good luck then, Daniel. You're going to need it." Captain Harvey said to him, then went to go stand on his side of the stage.

The lights came on and the curtains raised, then Tobias stepped out onto from stage left in front of the audience. Immediately he spoke the lines he had committed to memory of the play they were performing.

"Hark, where hast thou mine love gone? Why did my lover fall from this mortal coil?" he recited a play written in old English to the audience. "'Twas cruel, cruel fate that the sword from her own father did thrust into her chest; a blade meant for my own. In life, she was naught but a warrior, a strength, one proudly whom I could call mine equal in thy own place; in death she was but a fragile, beautiful flower, a petal, picked vigorously and thrown carelessly into the wind; for surely without her, this life has grown cold, as if all warmth has faded from thy world with her, one that would have remained unlike heaven, should she be amongst living still."

Captain Harvey entered from stage right with a sword in his hand. "Martyr fool! Who stolen thy daughter's heart! 'Tis all for naught!" Harvey shouted his lines. "Thou shall wretch thy revenge upon the, and shall make thy sacrifice to thy gods!" Harvey raised his sword.

Tobias looked at Harvey, still reciting lines. "Hail, father! Thoust daughter spared her life for mine! You deny her final request be honored, has thou revenge blinded you? Hark; I shall do upon ye what she could do naught, and halt thy bloody hands!" He unsheathed his own sword.

Then the two bowed, and jumped back into their sword fighting they had rehearsed. Tobias fought back and forth across the stage with Captain Harvey, parrying and blocking his advances. Then, at Harvey's gesture, he knocked the sword out of his hands once more and held the cutlass up for the point to touch his throat.

"Thou hast seen too much of war to know victory from reason; but know this." Tobias spoke the last of his lines. "'Tis not too late to clean thy hands of the blood of thy ememies and give the olive branch; is what your daughter died for. Thou shalt not dishonor her memory; as such I make my leave, sparing your life. Farewell, should we meet again!" Tobias threw a small ball onto the ground, which disintegrated into a smoke bomb. The audience gasped, and when the smoke cleared, Tobias was gone.

In reality, Tobias had been dropped into the trapdoor set into the stage; now was his chance. As Captain Harvey finished his lines and ordered the rest of the cast posing as soliders to 'find' Tobias in the audience, while lifting valuables off the audience members, Tobias exited the stage and moved through the darkness around them towards the duke's palace.

There were, of course, guards standing at attention and doing patrol outside the doors of the mansion. Nothing that Tobias hadn't come up against before. In the darkness, he snuck around to the service entrance where all the food was going in to be prepared, preparing to knock out the guard there. But when he got there, there was none. Suspecting something suspicious, Tobias proceeded towards the door with caution.

He entered and sneaked through the kitchen, passing all the cooks that were busy preparing the food. Everyone was too busy from cooking to notice him, and nobody seemed to be alerted to the fact there was no guard standing outside. Tobias exited the kitchen into the interior of the palace and not seeing any guards, snuck upstairs towards the duke's bedroom.

_This is too easy, _Tobias thought, and pulled out his sword as he found the bedroom door open, expecting a trap. But no-one leaped out at him from the darkness to challenge him. He stepped forward through the bedroom and with the blueprints of the mansion still in his mind, he turned a hidden switch on the wall disguised as a candelabrum, and stepped through the hidden door into the treasury room. All manners of golden items and paintings filled the room, and in the moonlight he could see on table what he had been looking for; the object he had lost at sea when he had been branded as a pirate after all these years. He cautiously stepped towards it and reached for it, picking it up with one hand, before he heard footsteps behind him and the cocking of the hammer pulled back on a pistol.

"Sorry mate, but I believe that belongs to yours truly." A man said behind him. Tobias knew it. He had walked into a trap. "Hands in the air, and turn towards me – slowly."

Tobias did as he was instructed, but not slowly, and looked at the guard. When he did, he realized it was no guard. The man had long brown hair that grew down to elbow length, some of it done in dreadlocks, some of it in beads. His short beard or goatee was done in plaits and he had a moustache. His brown eyes were rimmed in kohl. On his head he had a red bandana covered with a tri-cornered hat. He wore a long, brown overcoat over a grey unbuttoned vest, in turn over a plain white, slightly unbuttoned shirt, with three belts, one across his chest diagonally and the other two worn around his waist, one under the other. A pistol was tucked into the top-most belt. A red and pink sash was also tied around his waist, the end dangling down to about knee length. Some kind of bird foot was hanging from his belt, and he wore brown pants with brown, knee-high boots. This man was definately a pirate.

"You were trying to steal this, too?" Tobias asked.

"Of course I was. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, after all." The man grinned, focusing the pistol on him.

"Captain who?" Tobias said in confusion, wondering if he was supposed to have heard of the name before.

"Very funny, lad." Jack chuckled, "Where have you been all this time, hiding under a rock somewhere?"

Tobias raised his eyebrows and made an amused smirk, but ignored Jack's question. "How did you get in?" he asked, stalling for time, trying to move closer, trying to figure out his odds of knocking the pistol out of the man's hands or grabbing it from him without risk.

"I'm the one asking the questions around here." Captain Jack said, waving his pistol around slightly. "How did you in?"

"I snuck in through the service door." Tobias said proudly. "No guard there."

"Oh." Jack said in surprise. "That probably would have been a better way..."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tobias raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Erm, nothing. Nothing to do with anything, especially of the female persuasion. " Jack said, and tucked way something lacy into his jacket pocket.

"Oh really?" Tobias smiled, finding this man to be somewhat odd, giving him a strange look. "You still have something red there, on your lips. Like lipstick." Tobias said, pointing to his own lips in reference.

"I do?" Jack wondered incredulously, and wiped his face with his hand. Giving Tobias his chance.

Tobias knocked the pistol out of Jack's hand, and pulled out his sword, pointing it at Jack. "Sorry mate, but you know to never to trust a pirate." He kept it pointed at Jack, keeping him away from his pistol.

"Hmm, touché." Jack said, sounding a little impressed. "That is, if I didn't have me own sword!" Jack pulled out his sword, and he and Tobias started dueling each other. Tobias lunged forward and missed Jack, ripping open a valuable painting. Jack grabbed the object in Tobias's hand. They clashed again, and Jack knocked over a suit of armor and sent it crashing to the ground, the distraction letting Tobias steal back the object. Their swords met each other again.

"Oy, stop stealin' me loot!" Captain Jack yelled at him.

Tobias grinned. "Not bad swordplay, for a captain!" he taunted.

"Yer not too bad yerself, for a wannabe pirate!" Jack said back. He slashed the sleeve on Tobias's shirt, revealing the P brand on his wrist.

"Not a wannabe," Tobias said, breathing heavily, "I am a pirate, mate." Tobias lunged and Jack blocked it, and their swords clashed again.

After a few swings of his sword, Jack finally pushed Tobias back, long enough for him to grab his pistol off the ground and point it at him. "Nice footwork, mate. But I don't have anymore time to waste." He took the object off Tobias. "I must be off. Thanks for knocking out the guards, by the way."

"I didn't knock any of the guards out." Tobias said, confused. "I thought you did."

Jack looked confused as well. Suddenly there was an explosion outside, and both Jack and Tobias walked to the window. The stage was in pieces. Captain Harvey was on the ground, not moving, obviously dead. The guests shrieked and shouted as soldiers in red coats came in. They both recognized the uniform. The East India Trading Company…


	3. Chapter 2: A Deal is Struck

"I didn't knock any of the guards out." Tobias said, confused. "I thought you did."

Jack looked confused as well. Suddenly there was an explosion outside, and both Jack and Tobias walked to the window. The stage was in pieces. Captain Harvey was on the ground, not moving, obviously dead. The guests shrieked and shouted as soldiers in red coats came in. They both recognized the uniform. The East India Trading Company…

"Right," Jack said, stepping back from the window after seeing the East Indian Trading Company men invade the courtyard, "Best be off then… oy!"

Tobias had yanked the chest out of Captain Jack's hand and ran out of the room right into an invading group of soldiers. The soldiers spotted him and Jack, kneeling in formation. "Fire!" their commander called, leaving Tobias little choice. He ran and smashed through the window, falling two stories and landing in the garden bed, which broke his fall. Jack jumped out of the doorway and back into the treasure room, opening the window quickly and stepping out. Grabbing one of the lanterns which had been set up as decorations on a rope leading to the ground, he quickly rode one down like a flying fox just as the soldiers leaned out the window after him, firing at him and missed him by inches.

Now on the ground running towards the Dancing Peacock, Tobias could see the stage now had run into total chaos. Guests were running everywhere, most of his crew had been killed, and the duke who owned the mansion was yelling at the soldiers to stop, and now ran up towards the house noticing soldiers were looking out of his secret treasury room window.

Tobias had assumed the surviving crew had escaped to the Dancing Peacock. The ship was surprisingly fast since it didn't have any cannons, and Tobias hoped he could make it back to the ship to escape before the crew set sail. As he moved towards the gates that had been blasted open by the East Indian Trading Company, he took refuge next to the stage and looked at the nearby body of Captain Harvey. Poor man. He had only known him a week or two. He closed his eyelids, then pulled out the key that had been hanging around his neck for years, using it to unlock the chest. He took a quick look at the item inside; it was of the utmost value. It had been in the possession of a pirate lord before his father and the East Indian Trading Company had claimed it as spoils; ever since the day Tobias had lost it the day he had been branded, it had been in the possession of pirates, pirate lords, commanding officers, governors, natives, prisoners, civilians, even a whore or two. Tobias had been tracking it all these years, and now after all his hard work he finally had it.

"Oy! You there!" a soldier called, spotting him.

Tobias looked back and made a run for it. As he reached the gates, where he could clearly see the Dancing Peacock down on the docks, he saw another large naval ship had pulled up next to it as it left the dock. It was flying the insignia of the East India Trading Company, and was already firing upon it. The ship was defenseless, and in a mass slaughter of cannon fire, the ship blasted the Dancing Peacock to pieces, sinking it beneath the ocean waves.

"No where to run now, rat." The soldier said. "Hands above your head, where I can see them."

Tobias did as he was told, putting the treasure chest next to him. He was still in a state of shock. His crew, even though he had not known them long, were all killed. Noble men and women pirates, who never killed and rarely hurt anyone. All of them… dead.

"What's this?" the soldier said, spotting the P mark on Tobias's wrist. "You're a pirate, aren't you? You're coming with…" Suddenly there was a smashing sound on the back of the soldier's head, then he fell over, unconscious. Stepping out behind him came Captain Jack Sparrow, grinning.

"What are you doing!?" Tobias asked, wondering why Jack had saved him.

"Waiting for the opptune moment, mate." Jack said, reaching down to pick up the chest. He stepped back and pulled out his pistol at Tobias. "Nuh uh, don't even think about it, mate. I need this to get back me ship. Now, we're even. Tu-tu lu." Then Jack walked quickly away out the gate, following a path that led in a different direction away from the docks. Tobias hesitantly followed him, making sure to avoid as Jack did the patrols of soldiers cleaning up the mess around the mansion.

As Tobias followed Captain Jack, he trailed him down an unbeaten path until the captain revealed how he had gotten there; a small boat was tied up on a beach a short way away from the docks, hidden from view. He was about to reveal himself, when Jack noticed him peeking out from behind the bushes at the top of the beach and threw a bone at him, striking him square on the head. "Owww! Hey! Who throws a bone? I mean, honestly…"

Jack pulled out his pistol. "The type of man who's been out at sea and exhausted his food supply, leaving him to feed on a seagull, to throw the bones of said seagull at the annoying pirate following him like a lost puppy. There's only room for one, mate, and you ain't takin' me ship. Already had that done three times me already, all with the same ship recently. Saavy?"

"Yeah, as you've already mentioned previously." Tobias said, looking surprisingly confident at the captain. "Impressive ship, _captain_. There looks like room for two, maybe three there, mate. And you're gonna let me ride in that boat with you."

"Nice try, mate." Sparrow grinned. "But if you haven't noticed, I'm the one here with the chest, and the gun. "And you ain't got nothing but yer sword."

"Are you sure?" Tobias said. "Might want to check that chest again, mate."

Jack looked confused, but curious. He kept his pistol on Tobias, and pulled the chest open. The chest was empty.

"Looking for this?" Tobias asked, pulling out from his shirt the object they had both been looking for – a map written on wooden reeds strewn together with silk. Tobias had a flashback to when he opened the chest.

"Oy! You there!" a soldier called, spotting him.

With the map in his hand he had just retrieved from the chest, Tobias tucked it into his shirt before he turned around putting the chest down. Tobias looked back and made a run for it.

Jack looked at the map in Tobias's hand. "Bloody hell, stop stealin' me loot! Give it back to me!" he ordered, pointing his pistol at Tobias.

"Hey, careful. You wouldn't want anything to happen to this map, right Jack? Out of all the treasures in that room you could have taken for yourself, you chose the one I've been hunting after all these years."

"Oh yes… that's the only one…" Jack said innocently, hiding his hand that had a few new rings on.

"Point is, shame if there would be anything to happen to it…" Tobias pointed out, starting to brake off a part of the map.

"You know what? I don't really care." Jack said, still watching Tobias brake off a part of the map.

"Okay. Guess you won't mind then if I throw it back in the ocean. Again." Tobias said, rolling up the map and preparing to throw it.

"Yer wouldn't dare. You're after it too mate." Jack said.

"I've been after this map for years."

"I'd shoot yer."

"Before I can pitch it into the ocean? I've got a good backhand like you, Jack. Try me."

"It's Captain."

"What?"

"It's Captain Jack Sparrow, mate."

"Do ya want the map, or not?" Tobias said.

Captain Jack hesitated. Then he lowered his gun. "Okay, okay mate. What do yer want?" Jack sighed.

"You said you needed this to get a ship back?" Tobias said curiously. "How did you loose it, was there a mutiny?"

"That's for me to know and you to bugger off." Jack said. "But go on."

"Let's make a deal. I'll help you get your ship back, if you give me safe passage. I'll provide the map if you provide the ship."

Jack extended a hand, and Tobias shook it. "Alright, deal mate. But you're rowin'. I'm still a captain, even on his tiny vessel."

"Fine, whatever. Let's just get out of here." Tobias said, taking the oars and paddling him and Jack out to sea. "Where are we headed?"

"The next port, Port Royal." Jack said. "That's where the my ship is. The Black Pearl…"


	4. Chapter 3: The Captain's Plan

"Yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirate's life for me…"Captain Jack Sparrow sang drunkenly as he sipped on a bottle of rum, as Tobias kept rowing the boat.

"Don't you think it's time you took your turn rowing the boat, Jack?" Tobias asked tiredly, his arms aching from doing all the rowing.

"That's _Captain_ Jack Sparrow, mate. And it's that reason being captain that I am steering at the rudder and not rowing the boat. My boat, my orders. Saavy?"

"At least let me have a bit of your rum." Tobias asked thirstily.

"Sorry mate, this is me last bottle. Captain gets the last bottle. Captain's orders."

"And I suppose it's Captain's orders too not to share any food with me, not let me stop rowing until we get to Port Royal AND to throw all those seagull's bones at me when I'm not looking?"

"Oy, who told you that?" Jack said in surprise.

"Aye," Tobias sighed, his arms feeling sore, his tongue feeling dry. "So what happened to your actual ship, Captain? The one you're trying to get back?"

"If yer really want to know, me old first mate Barbossa stole me ship when I was in Port Royal. That's why we're going back there."

"And how do you plan on getting your ship back?"

"That's where the map comes in. Barbossa wants exactly the same thing I do – to get to wherever that map leads. And if I can organize parley with him, I'll make a deal to swap over the Pearl for the map."

"So that's it? You just want your ship back? Don't you realize where the map leads?"

"Aye, mate. But there's no point in getting to said destination on the map without a ship."

"According to the map, there's no way of getting there without the map, either."

"Erm, I have my ways." Jack said quite oddly. Tobias stared at him strangely, so Jack changed the subject. "So since you're gonna help me take back me ship, are you after the map for the destination as well?"

"The Fountain of Youth? Yes." Tobias said simply. "I want to be immortal. Sail the seas forever. Have freedom and follow wherever the wind takes me. Wouldn't any pirate?"

"Fair enough mate, exactly what I was thinkin'." Jack said. "Too bad I'm giving Barbossa the map. You'll have to sort it out with him if yer want it back."

"You can't give it to Barbossa!" Tobias said defiantly. It had taken him forever to get that map. "If you don't give him the map, I'll tell you how to navigate the Land of Darkness to get to it."

"Eh?" Jack asked a little drunkenly, a little of the rum setting into his brain.

"You've never heard of the Land of Darkness?" Tobias said. "It's what makes the Fountain of Youth so hard to find. Legend has it that it's said to be full of nightmarish creatures, cursed land and the bodies of the dead who have failed to heed the warnings of the clues on the map."

"Eh, I can live without it." Jack said weirdly again, waving away Tobias's concerns with his bandaged hand. "Sorry mate, but you forget I'm the one with the pistol. Barbossa's gettin' the map, and I'm gettin' the Pearl, and if you have a problem with that, I'll dump yer bullet-ridden body over the side of the ship. Saavy?"

Tobias didn't say anything, and kept rowing, scowling at Jack. After a moment's silence, he said, "You know something, don't you? Is that why you're so willing to part with the map? You memorized it?"

Jack bit his lip. "No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

Jack pulled out his pistol. "Me pistol says I didn't."

Tobias went quiet again and looked deep in thought at Jack. Jack smiled to himself, finished off the rum bottle and stroked the pistol in his hands. "Good pistol, there's a good boy. Oh yes you are! Yes you are!" he grinned, making cute faces to the pistol. Tobias couldn't help but chuckle under his breath at the deranged Captain, who seemed threatening but funny at the same time. Suddenly he jumped up, making Tobias jump as well. "Aye, we're here mate. Port Royal."

Tobias looked over his shoulder, and he could see they had pulled into the harbor. Jack pulled out a large telescope from his jacket and looked into the distance with it. "There she is. My beauty. The Black Pearl."

Tobias looked over in the direction Captain Jack was looking, and saw a large ship docked along the quay. "That's your ship?" Tobias said.

"Aye. The fastest ship there is. I knew Barbossa would come looking fer me." As the ship pulled up into the docks, Captain Jack stepped up onto dry land, and Tobias tied up the ship and unloaded their few belongings. As he stepped off the boat, Captain Jack whirled around and lifted out his open palm.

"Now mate, the map. We had a deal. Your safe passage for the map. And don't you dare try damaging it." He held up his pistol just to make sure.

"Aye." Tobias grunted, and gave Jack the map.

"This is where we part ways, mate." Jack said, sliding the map into his coat. "Can't say I enjoyed the trip, I'd rather it was a beautiful lass than you."

"My thoughts exactly." Tobias smirked. "But _Captain_, let me offer you one last deal. You're going onto your ship to try and swap it back, right? Barbossa stole it from you, so that means his crew will favor him over you, right? Here's the deal; let me join yer crew, come with you to the Pearl and watch your back. And I'll tell you the secrets of the map."

"Oh really?" Jack said, intrigued. "And what are you asking for in return? Sorry, mate. You can't have the map..."

"I don't want the map." Tobias interrupted. "I want you to take me to the Fountain of Youth. I have a share in the reward."

Jack was about to answer when two soldiers walked up to their position. "Welcome to Port Royal. State your names, please."

"Now, there be no need of names." Jack said, producing a bag of coins. "How about I give you this and you be on your merry way, eh?"

Tobias knew currency was currency of the realm, especially during his time as a solider. He produced a bag of coins as well and dropped it into the other soldier's hand as Jack did. "Yeah fellas, how about you decide a name for us? We'll give some for you; how about galleons and pounds?" he followed Jack's lead.

"Welcome to Port Royal." The soldiers said greedily, and walked off.

"Jack, what about it? Do we have a deal?" Tobias asked. "You can't translate the map without me."

"That's Captain Jack. And I think I can do it on me own, mate." Jack said, as he kept on walking down the pier.

"Are you willing to take that risk, _Captain_?" Tobias said, walking after him. "Are you gonna, in the Land of Darkness, knowing death is only a few steps away from stopping that could-be immortal heart of yours?"

"Aye mate. Honestly, I don't like yer. And if I'm gonna live forever, I don't want it to have to be with you as well. See yer in yer next life, mate."

Tobias stopped in his steps and watched Jack walk away. Then he said, "What about if no-one in Barbossa's crew remains loyal to you? There's no-one else in Port Royal to help you steer the ship, is there?"

Jack stopped and turned around, in thought. "You may have a point there, mate. Alright then, hurry up, before I change me mind."

"JACK! JACK!" came a loud voice, and Jack turned to look up the pier to see a short, rounded man walk quickly his way. He had a short, trimmed grey beard with receding hair, and bright eyes.

"Gibbs! There ye are! Right where I left ye!" Jack said. "What's the word?"

"Yer shouldn't have come back, Jack. She's – "

But before Gibbs could say anything, a woman came quickly around from behind him and stepped up in front of him, slapping him across the face. Jack's head turned to the side following the impact of the slap, rubbing his cheek. "Not sure if I deserved that."

The woman was wearing a tri-corner hat, a slim coat and was wearing pirate clothing. She had dark black hair and brown eyes. "Jack Sparrow, you coward! Trading me in to those pirates! You tricked me!"

"Ana-Maria, sweet heart, I only gave you away to them to get the location of the picture of that key… which we found, by the way. It's not my fault that you wanted their ship, and they wanted a woman. I thought it was quite a nice match, actually…"

Ana-Maria slapped Jack again, the other way this time. "Okay, maybe I deserved that one…" he said sorely, feeling his cheek again.

"So how did you escape then?" asked Tobias.

Ana-Maria glared daggers into him. "And who the hell are you?"

"Tobias. Tobias Wolfe." He introduced himself. "Me and Jack are… acquaintances. So, how did you escape the pirates after Jack handed you over to them?" he asked his question again, curious.

"I seduced the captain… then I killed him. His ship is now mine." Ana-Maria smirked. "No thanks to you, Jack."

"You're welcome, lass." Jack chuckled half-heartedly. "Now, Gibbs. What news on Barbossa?"

"Haven't seen him." Gibbs confessed. "The Pearl's docked, but I haven't seen him on her. He must have gone into town."

"Then let's go find him, eh? We need to talk." Jack said, looking at Ana-Maria. "Nice to have seen you again, Ana." He stepped away and walked down the pier into town, Tobias and Gibbs following him.

"That's Captain Ana-Maria, Captain Jack." Ana said crossly as she followed him. "What are you up to now, Jack? What's your business with Barbossa?"

"OI!" yelled a loud voice, and their heads turned to see a group of soldiers heading quickly in their direction. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"Someone must have tipped them off you were here, Captain!" Gibbs said.

"Couldn't have possibly been you Gibbs, yelling my name at the top of your head, eh?" Jack said sarcastically, breaking into a run. "RUN FOR IT!"

The pirates quickly began to move, crossing the bridge across the river that led into the town of Port Royal. "HALT!" yelled another group ahead of them, and Jack and his group ducked into an alleyway and kept going. Tobias could feel the soldiers on their heels, and crossed through the marketplace amongst the townspeople, trying to loose the soldiers amongst the crowd. Tobias heard Jack yell, "Sorry luv!" as he pushed aside an old woman carrying a load of fruit, sending it flying into the air. Tobias pushed over a cart and sent the cages full of chickens sitting on top of it crashing to the ground. He looked behind them, seeing the soldiers, but couldn't see Gibbs anywhere. He kept his eyes on Jack and Ana-Maria ahead of him, and followed him through the winding alleyways between the old buildings into a small, deserted side street.

"Look, a blacksmith's. Let's hide in there." He suggested to Jack and Ana.

"Not bloody likely again, mate!" Jack said back to him, ignoring the confused look on Ana's and Tobias's faces. Then the door of the building opened in front of them.

"Hey, over here!" came a hushed voice. A pirate woman was standing in the doorway of the blacksmith's shop, her face hidden in the shadow of the awning above her. "In here, quickly!"

Ana, Jack and Tobias ducked into the door, and the woman shut it behind them, with the sign nailed onto the outside of the door: ABANDONED.

"Thanks luv." Captain Jack said to the mysterious pirate woman with a sly smirk as she locked the door.

The woman crossed her arms and looked at Jack angrily; addressing Jack for what sounded like wasn't the first time. She looked like she wanted to slap him, but to Tobias's surprise did not. "You shouldn't have left me behind, Jack. You should have told me."

"It's Captain Jack, luv, remember?" Jack said strangely, not looking her in the eye as he recognized her and looked down at the floor instead. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell ye where I was going. As you know, Barbossa stole me ship. Thought ye wanted me to leave without yeh… how did yer think I shoulda left?"

"Oh, I dunno, what do you think? You tell me." she asked him, staring at him as if she expected Jack to read her mind.

"That doesn't mean you can't think up of a way I could have done it, luv. There was no other way. Couldn't help it." Jack said, a little regret in his voice.

The woman sighed. "Sorry. I guess I can't help it either, what with this situation we're in. We'll talk later about us, Jack, but… she's here to see you." the woman said. She looked at Tobias and with a small smile, and winked at him secretively.

"Eh?" Jack asked, looking confused. Tobias felt the same.

Then stepping out from the darkness of the blacksmith's shop around them, came another woman who stepped into the sunlight. She had blonde hair, brown eyes and wore different pirate clothing to the mysterious woman, which sort-of looked Chinese. She wore a tri-corner hat with a pointed tip at the top of the head, with her golden hair tied up beneath it. Her Chinese coat was colored black and gold with an Oriental design, tightly clasped around her body and secured with a large, wide belt around her waist. From her belt leather flaps covered in a sort of scale-like armor covered her hips on both side, on her left side the hilt of a cutlass could be seen. Underneath her coat could only be seen brown long pants on her legs and knee-high boots.

"Welcome back, Jack." She smiled.

Jack grinned. "And you said it would never work out between us, luv. And yet, here we are again."

She smirked at him for a moment, regarding him, then looked at Tobias. "What's your name?" she asked Tobias.

"The name's Tobias. Tobias Wolfe." Tobias said, a little uncertainly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Elizabeth Swann." The woman smiled, "And I'm the King of the Pirates."


End file.
